Feds to Alaskans: No road for humans, lots of land for animals

Times like this is when the locals should just build the road themselves and tell the feds where they can stick it.
Check it out:

In a remote corner of Alaska where a thousand hardy souls make their homes, the federal government has made it clear that the birds and bears hold more clout than the people.

For more than three decades the predominantly Aleut fishing community of King Cove has been fighting to build a one-lane, 11-mile gravel track connecting the Cove to the nearby hamlet of Cold Bay.

What they want is a road – what they have gotten is 30 years of flat-out federal refusals or stall tactics. Cove residents say a road is necessary so they can reach an all-weather airport in Cold Bay that will transport them to Anchorage, about 625 miles away, for medical treatment. They say that in emergency situations, it’s a matter of life and death.

Late last year, though, the Department of Interior announced it was rejecting plans for a proposed land swap that would allow the road to be built. The Dec. 23 decision cited the negative environmental impact on grizzly bears, caribou and water fowl like the Pacific black brant.

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